Christmas is a time of celebration and festivity around the world, and there are many vibrant and unique ways of celebrating the holidays. Of course, every individual family has their own holiday tradition, but many places have common customs.

From rum-soaked desserts to dazzling Christmas markets to live fish in bathtubs, here are the many fascinating ways that Christmas is celebrated around the globe.

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People in the Philippines celebrate Christmas for five months.

The Christmas season in the Philippines lasts for almost half the year. Decorations start going up in September and the holiday fervor doesn't end until the first Sunday in January. Many people spruce up their homes with paper lanterns called "parols" and eat a huge family meal on Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve.

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Many people in Japan like to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas.

In Japan, Christmas is celebrated in a more secular way than in many predominantly Christian countries. It's actually considered a romantic day for couples, and many Japanese families treat themselves to what has become the traditional Japanese Christmas meal: a bucket of KFC fried chicken.

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One Christmas tradition in Poland involves keeping a fish in your bathtub.

Though most people simply buy a cut of fish from the market, it's considered traditional for the lady of the house to keep a live carp in the bathtub for a few days before Christmas and kill it herself just before cooking. The scales from the carp are considered good luck.

Many Finnish people celebrate Christmas with a crown of candles and a trip to the sauna.

They also have porridge.
Reuters/LEHTIKUVA

In Finland, one of the main events of the holiday season is St. Lucia Day on December 13. On this date, the eldest girl in each family dons a white robe and a crown of candles before serving her family buns, cookies, coffee, or mulled wine.

In the UK, stockings are hung from the end of beds.

Rather than hanging Christmas stockings over the fireplace, families in the UK typically hang them at the foot of their bed s. Paper crowns are typically worn at Christmas dinner and Christmas crackers - paper tubes that explode with confetti and prizes when pulled - make for lighthearted fun around the holidays. Boxing Day falls on December 26 and is a bit like Black Friday in the US.

Christmas in Australia is often celebrated on the beach.

It's not winter in Australia.
AP

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas in Australia, you might have to wait until winter weather hits in July - most of the country is bathed in balmy temps during the holidays. Accordingly, Australians frequently celebrate Christmas with a lunchtime barbecue on the beach. Friends and family gather to indulge in prawns, lobster, and sweets before playing a game of cricket or taking a dip.

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In Argentina, people celebrate Christmas with fireworks.

People watch as fireworks explode in the sky in Buenos Aires December 18, 2011, as part of Christmas and New Year festivities.
Marcos Brindicci/REUTERS

Argentinians like to celebrate Christmas with a bang. Fireworks are typically launched at midnight on Christmas Eve after a late dinner and some people attend overnight parties. Families often light paper lanterns and send them into the night sky on Christmas Eve.

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Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated on January 7.

Like many Orthodox countries, Ukraine uses the Julian calendar for their church festivals. This means Ukrainians celebrate Christmas on January 7 rather than December 25. It's traditional to delay eating Christmas dinner until the first star in the sky is spotted. Caroling in the streets or around the table is also common.

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In America, many children leave cookies for Santa.

Presents are also left under the tree.
Pixabay

Families in America often leave cookies and milk out for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve in hopes that they wake up to presents left by him and his reindeer. Those presents are often left under the tree as well as in stockings hung by the fireplace.

Hanging giant paper lanterns is a common Christmas tradition in India.

An Indian woman along with her chidren shops for Christmas decorations at a market in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. Though Christians make up only about 2 percent of India's 1 billion-plus population, Christmas is a national holiday celebrated with much fanfare.
AP

Christmas in India is a relatively minor holiday, but is usually celebrated by attending midnight mass and enjoying a huge meal with family. Families might also hang large, colorful paper lanterns shaped like stars outside their homes and decorate mango or banana trees with ornaments or bright fabric.

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Father Frost visits Russian homes on New Year’s Eve.

In this Friday, Dec. 26, 2008 file photo, Father Frost, the Russian equivalent to Santa Claus, waves during a welcome ceremony near Red Square
AP

Christmas in Kenya is all about connecting with family.

In this photo taken Friday, Dec. 9, 2016, Dance Centre Kenya's artistic director Cooper Rust, left, from the United States, holds the hand of Kenyan ballet dancer Joel Kioko, 16, center, as they take a bow at the end of a performance of The Nutcracker in Nairobi, Kenya.
AP

Christmas in Pakistan is religious celebration filled with family activities.

Pakistani Christians attend a candlelight service ahead of Christmas at a church in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017.
AP

Though Pakistan is a predominantly Islamic country, Christmas is celebrated by Christians with caroling and the construction of nativity scenes in homes and churches. On Christmas Day, families attend Bara Din celebrations at church. This festive event calls for spending time with family and feasting on delicious food.

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Caroling is a big part of Christmas in Romania.

Children from Dofteana, northern Romania, some wearing bear furs, dance while performing a holiday season ritual in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014. In pre-Christian rural traditions, dancers wearing colored costumes or animal furs, touring house to house in villages singing and dancing to ward off evil.
AP

Children often carol house to house in Romania, receiving sweets and traditional cakes called "cozonaci" in return for their efforts. In some parts of Romania, it's traditional that one person dress up as a goat with a colorful mask and cause mischief amongst the carolers and in other parts, a similar tradition exists but with one caroler dressing up as a bear.